Phil Robertson Returning to Duck Dynasty?

I’m sure everyone has heard about the controversy currently surrounding Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the popular television show Duck Dynasty. For those of you who haven’t heard about the situation…A&E has suspended Robertson after he made anti-gay comments during a recent interview with GQ magazine.

“It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus,” Robertson was quoted as saying. “That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical. Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he continued. “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”

After reviewing Robertson’s interview, A&E immediately suspended Robertson, causing extreme backlash from the show’s millions of fans. The network issued a statement that read: “We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson’s comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty. His personal views in no way reflect those of A+E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community. The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely.”

However, a new source close to the situation, has revealed that Robertson will, in fact, be remaining on the show, and will be part of filming when it starts back in January. “There’s no negotiation to have; we’re doing the show,” the source said. “We’ll figure out a solution. It’s just not going to happen overnight. Everybody will take a break for the holidays and regroup afterward. That’s probably the smartest thing for everyone to do. Time heals a lot of wounds.”

The Robertson clan may not be persuaded that easily. Another source close to the family has revealed that they are “very serious” about leaving the show after having their beliefs threatened. “They’re an extremely tight-knit family and they’re not going to let this get in the way,” the source explains. “[Phil] is the reason for their success—they’re not going to abandon him. They’re also not about to let anyone threaten their religious beliefs.”

The family also released a statement saying they couldn’t imagine the show going forward without Robertson. Their statement read:

We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support. The family has spent much time in prayer since learning of A&E’s decision. We want you to know that first and foremost we are a family rooted in our faith in God and our belief that the Bible is His word.

While some of Phil’s unfiltered comments to the reporter were coarse, his beliefs are grounded in the teachings of the Bible. Phil is a Godly man who follows what the Bible says are the greatest commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Phil would never incite or encourage hate. We are disappointed that Phil has been placed on hiatus for expressing his faith, which is his constitutionally protected right. We have had a successful working relationship with A&E but, as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm.

Contrary to popular belief, homosexuals were not fully accepted in either Greek or Roman culture.110 Throughout the Roman and Greek civilizations, gender incongruent males were ridiculed. Solon, as a practical matter, legalized homosexuality to tax the earnings of homosexual prostitutes. Roman law punished homosexual behavior as early as the third century B.C., later protecting minors and forbidding the use of premises for homosexual activity upon pain of death, even by burning.111

In the Old Testament, the Ten Commandments do not include homosexual behavior (Deuteronomy 5.11-21) and the seven acts most detestable to God (Proverbs 6.16-19: “haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and a man who sows discord among brothers” do not mention sexual misconduct. In the New Testament, Christ never mentioned homosexuality and asked for understanding and restraint of condemnation in sexual matters (John 8.1-11). The Bible never discusses homosexuality in the context of committed relationships or within the Gay community.112 In I Corinthians 6.9-10, as translated by some into English, St. Paul (coming from a cross-cultural Hebrew, Greek, and Roman perspective) discusses pagan sanctioned temple (cult) male prostitutes (πρvoι, pornos), effeminate males or catamites (μαλακoί, malakos), and homosexuals (aρσεvoκoiται, arsenokoitai). St. Paul’s statements taken literally, as translated into English, would condemn celibate effeminate homosexuals. Boswell, using Koine Greek contemporary to St. Paul, translations into other languages, and early Christian scholarship and commentaries on I Corinthians 6.9-10 convincingly argues St. Paul was not discussing homosexuals or homosexuality.113

Saint Augustine, considered Pauline, admitted homosexual practices with much anguish. When Saints John Chrysostom and Augustine–both vehemently opposed to homosexuality–comment on I Corinthians 6.9-10, neither mentions homosexuality.114 St. Augustine’s major apologist, Martin Luther, wrote derisively of homosexuals, but translated “ρσεvoκoται” as “Knabenschänder,” or child molester.115 The Christian Emperor, Justinian, who herded whole villages into rivers to be baptized so they could die in Christ, believed homosexuality caused earthquakes, famines, and pestilence and legislated homosexual behavior should be subjected to penance much like adultery.116 His wife, Theodora, avoiding abortion, had many of her illegitimate children murdered.
Bible, Torah, and Koran advocate male supremacy. The books of the Bible appear to have been generally accepted about the time of the Council of Carthage in 397. Until A.D. 858, Christians debated whether women had souls.117 The Council of Trent “condemned to anathema anyone who said marriage was as virtuous as celibacy.”118 In Christian, Hebrew, and Moslem texts male homosexuals are seen as effeminates who adopt female sexual behaviors119. The “sin” of homosexuality and legal prohibitions against homosexuals relates to cross-gendered behavior.120 Unlike the Bible, the Koran mentions lesbian behavior. The Koran calls for the punishment of lesbians. Male homosexuals can go through a purification ritual. Lesbians could be forever locked away. While Sunnis appear to follow the Koran, Shiites have adopted an extreme form of punishment for homosexuals. The first such punishment was to throw homosexuals from minarets. This distasteful practice has been replaced with hangings, beatings, being thrown from cliffs using Shariah, a strict code of law derived from “hadith, ijma, and qiyas” not found in the writings of the Prophet Mohammed.

Christian, Jewish, and Moslem passages against homosexuals may derive from the stories of “Sodom and Gomorrah” and “Ham.” Based on many Bible passages, the most illustrative to explain God’s wrath at Sodom and Gomorrah are found in Ezekiel 16:
“49. Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, surfeit of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. 50. They were haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them, when I saw it.” (RSV)
Homosexuals per se are not mentioned either in the original story of Sodom and Gomorrah or in later biblical explanations. Linguistic scholars of Koine, Aramaic, classical Greek, Latin, and Hebrew convincingly argue “temple prostitutes” and being unclean during religious ceremonies–not homosexuals per se were the topic of biblical discussions regarding “unnatural” sexual practices.121 It is unlikely St. Paul or the rabbinical scholars he studied understood the relationship between differences in brain anatomy and natural sexual orientation. In biblical times, natural sexual practices based on brain sex/gender would have appeared unnatural–particularly because procreation was not involved. It has been argued that St. Paul may have been condemning heterosexuals who engage in homosexual behavior (e.g., Ted Haggard, etc.). How a professed former homosexual could pronounce a total cure and heterosexuality on behalf of Rev. Haggard is unsupported by objective data. St. Paul writing to the Romans who were surrounded by idolatry and pagan religions (Romans 1.23-32) appears to renew and augment the Old Testament prohibition against homosexual behavior found in Leviticus 20: “13. If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them.” (RSV) The use of “abomination” in the Bible in both Hebrew and Greek referred to sacred ceremonies, idolatry, and pagan worship.

Today, mainstream churches express the belief that homosexual acts, not homosexuals, are “sinful.”122 While the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints adopts the same position, the Book of Mormon fails to mention homosexuality. In the United States and in other countries, the Metropolitan Community Church has pastors ministering predominantly to Gays. Among several protestant religions, Quakers, Unitarians, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, Disciples of Christ, Presbyterian Church U.S.A., Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Eposcopal Church, etc. accept homosexuals and lesbians as congregants and sometimes clerics. Most Jewish synagogues in the United States fully accept homosexuals as congregants and rabbinical scholars. Many Christian churches oppose discrimination against homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals and promote acceptance of same-sexed couples.